Apparatus for the impregnation with a treating liquid and for the squeezing of a textile product running continuously

ABSTRACT

Apparatus for the complete impregnation with a treating liquid and the controlled squeezing of a textile product running continuously. The apparatus consists essentially of the following elements: - AN IMPREGNATION CHAMBER - A SQUEEZING CHAMBER - A FEEDING TANK - MEANS FOR FEEDING SAID TREATING LIQUID, UNDER PRESSURE, FROM THE TANK TO THE IMPREGNATION CHAMBER - MEANS OF MAINTAINING A PARTIAL VACUUM IN THE TANK AND IN THE SQUEEZING CHAMBER. Coating of textile yarns with products of high viscosity.

1 51 Sept. 16, 1975 Daniel [54] APPARATUS FOR THE INIPREGNATION 3,473,51 1 10/1969 Metz et al 1 18/429 WITH A TREATING LIQUID AND FOR THE 3,544,388 12/1970 Russell 1 18/429 3,724,088 4/1973 Lefebvre et a1. 34/23 SQUEEZING OF A TEXTILE PRODUCT 4/1974 Dahlgren 118/50 RUNNING CONTINUOUSLY Rene A. Daniel, St-Quentin, France OPl-Textile, NeuvillesvAmand, France Filed: Jan. 11, 1974 Appl. No.: 432,695

Inventor:

Assignee:

Foreign Application Priority Data Jan. 15, 1973 France 73.01215 Field of Search 118/50, 602, 429, 419, 118/420; 34/23 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 5/1950 Sisson 118/420 10/1968 Fleisher et a]. 1 18/419 Primary Examiner-Mervin Stein Assistant ExaminerDouglas Salser Attorney, Agent, or Firm--Curtis, Morris & Safford [5 7] ABSTRACT Apparatus for the complete impregnation with a treating liquid and thecontrolled squeezing of a textile product running continuously. The apparatus consists essentially of the following elements:

an impregnation chamber a squeezing chamber a feeding tank means for feeding said treating liquid, under pressure, from the tank to the impregnation chamber means of maintaining a partial vacuum in the tank and in the squeezing chamber. Coating of textile yarns with products of high viscosmy.

13 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures T l T H I l 9| APPARATUS FOR THE IMPREGNATION WITH A TREATING LIQUID ANT) FOR THE SQUEEZING (M A TEXTILE PRODUCT RUNNING CONTINUOUSLY The present invention relates to an apparatus for the impregnation and squeezing of textile products, and more specially of textile yarns, running continuously.

In the textile industry, impregnation of a thread with a treating liquid is usually performed by passage through a bath and squeezing. This process as well as being rather slow in most cases has in addition the drawback of not allowing the exact regulation of the final degree of impregnation of the product.

Several processes for the squeezing of yarn by a gas current have been proposed. According to my coworkers French Pat. Application no. 70.02183 and its First Certificate of Addition no. 71.1856 (see equivalent U.S. Pat. No. 3,724,088), the squeezing is realized by passing the thread through a low-pressure zone bounded by a network of shock waves which is set up at the outlet of the nozzle in the gas current at supersonic speed.

The latter process allows the degree of impregnation to be exactly regulated, but can unfortunately not be used when the treating liquid is of high viscosity, such as sizing products, coating resins, etc.. In fact, in that case the aforecited process would give rise to deposits and obstructions thus reducing considerably the efiiciency of the process.

The present invention aims to overcome these inconveniences by proposing an apparatus which allows a thread to be completely saturated and the final degree of impregnation to be determined and uniform. The said apparatus consists at least of the following elements: i

- an impregnation chamber with an inlet and outlet a squeezing chamber a tank for containing the treating liquid means of ensuring a partial vacuum in the tank and in the squeezing chamber means of ensuring the axial running of the thread.

The inlet and outlet orifices of the impregnation chamber are preferably of convergent-divergent type.

The apparatus may also include at leastone recovery chamber entirely enclosing the inlet and outlet apertures of the impregnation chamber. This recovery chamber is preferably connected to the tank and it is therefore also at a lower than atmospheric pressure.

The better to control the degree of thread impregnation, it is preferable to use adjustable means of controlling the pressure inside the impregnation chamber and adjustable means of controlling the partial vacuum inside the squeezing chamber.

The attached drawings, FIGS. 1 and 2 show, by way of example, two possible embodiments of the apparatus according to the invention.

FIG. 1 shows that the apparatus includes twobasic elements through which the thread running continuously isv successively led. More specifically, element 1 is intended for impregnation, and element 2 for squeezing, of the thread.

Element I consists mainly of an impregnation chamber 3 in the form of a tube through which the thread to The impregnation chamber is fed under high pressure by any known means, as for instance a pump 6. To inbe treated is run axially. This chamber 3 is connected I by a pipe 4 to a tank 5 containing the treating liquid.

crease the action of the pressurized liquid on the thread, this chamber 3 has a small average crosssection. Furthermore, the inlet and outlet orifices 7, 8 are preferably of convergent-divergent type, and their smallest diameter should be approximately equal to that of the thread to be treated. The inlet and outlet apertures ofthe impregnation chamber should preferably be surrounded bya recovery chamber 9 which collects the small quantity of treating liquid escaping from chamber 3 but not carried along an the thread. This excess quantity isrecycled and returned to tank 5 through apipellil. I 1

The squeezing element consists of a squeezing chamber 11 which is connected to the recovery chamber 9 or eventually-to the impregnation chamber. It is connected as well to tank 5 by a pipe 12.

The tank is submitted to a partial vacuum which can vary from a few ten to a few hundred grams per cm this partial vacuum being brought about by an known means, as for instance a conventional vacuum pump 13. The recovery chamber Qand the squeezing chamber 11 connected to this tank 5 are also subjected to a partial vacuum. I

The working process of this apparatus is as follows: the thread is sent through the apparatus in the direction of the arrow by means not shown in the drawings. These means are placed at the entrance and exit of the installation and will ensure the circulation and the storage of the thread. The means may be of any suitable kind and will be chosen according to the overall treating process of the thread into which the treatment according to the invention is intended to be incorporated. After passing into said apparatus through an inlet nozzle l5 (elongated relative to said apparatus outlet at orifice l4) and passing eventually through the recovery chamber which entirely encloses the inlet aperture '7 of the impregnation chamber 3, the thread enters the impregnation chamber 3 through the convergentdivergent inlet opening The high pressure prevailing in this chamber combined with the action of the convergent-divergent inlet aperture result in a complete saturation of the textile thread with the treating liquid in spite of the latters high viscosity. The same effect will be noted at the exit of the impregnation chamber.

The thread then passes into chamber ll, where it is subjected to the partial vacuum which causes a squeezing effect on the thread. In fact, the outlet orifice 14 of the squeezing chamber forms a nozzle means which has direct access either to the outside ambient atmosphere or to any kind of controlled atmosphere which suits the treatment to be processed. This produces a suction towards the inside of the squeezing chamber and a squeezing of the superficial coat of the liquid carried along by the thread. The partial vacuum in the squeezing chamber and the squeezing at the exit of this chamber allow the excess treating liquid to be removed and a uniform superficial coating to be obtained. The re moved liquid is directly recycled through a pipe which ensures at the same time the partial vacuum in the squeezing chamber. To increase even further this squeezing effect, it is advantageous to use exit orifices of the convergent-divergent type.

The apparatus as shown in FIG. 2 consists of an impregnation chamber 3 and of a squeezing chamber 11, showing the same characteristics as described in connection with FIG. 1 but assuming as well the role of recovery chamber since it surrounds the inlet and outlet apertures of the impregnation chamber 3. This chamber 11 communicates with tank 5 by just one pipe 15, this pipe allowing the excess quantity of treating liquid to be recycled and the chamber 11 to be submitted to partial vacuum. The performance of this apparatus is very similar to the above-mentioned.

Several apparatus, each having the characteristics of those referred to above, may be disposed along the path of the thread if several treating liquids are to be applied successively. It is also possible to place side by side several impregnation chambers connected to the same tank if impregnation proves especially difficult and if one desires nevertheless a high operation speed. In this last case a single squeezing element is usually sufficient to allow a correct squeezing.

From the above description it is evident that such an apparatus is specially well suited for the impregnation of a thread with a treating liquid of high viscosity. It allows a large quantity of treating liquid to be applied onto the thread because of the high injection pressure. The consequent controlled squeezing allows the thread to be completely saturated with the treating liquid while both regulating the degree of impregnation and recovering the excess liquid. The final degree of impregnation of the product can be easily regulated by regulating the very impregnation and the squeezing. To this end, it is advantageous to chose adjustable means allowing the impregnation pressure and the partial vacuum in the squeezing chamber to vary.

The immediate recycling of the excess treating liquid avoids any risk of deposits and obstructions which might bring the installation to a slow-down or even to a standstill.

It is specially advantageous to use the described apparatus if a thread is to be impregnated with a product which tends to a rapid polymerization at air contact. The known squeezing processes which consist of projecting compressed and consequently very dry air onto a product bring about a very rapid and often undesirable polymerization. A squeezing according to the invention, that is to say by means of ambient air which, as a general rule, has a high degree of humidity, avoids a too rapid polymerization. Moreover, any controlled and suitable kind of atmosphere may be used if necessary.

In addition, this apparatus allows the impregnation of threads travelling at high speed.

The apparatus can easily be adapted for the impregnation and the squeezing of sheet materials, woven materials, non-Wovens, etc.

The performance of the apparatus as shown in FIG. 1 will be apparent by an example from a practical experiment. In the given case, a polyamide thread of a metric count of 2.5 and a running speed of IOOm/min. has been treated with synthetic resin (acrylate) dispersed in water. The resin is applied onto the product with a pressure of about 800 g/cm and the squeezing chamber is submitted to a partial vacuum of about 0.8 atmosphere. At the exit of the installation, the thread is filled with a resin weight content of about 30%. After final drying in an oven and polymerization the thread is filled with a resin weight content The conventional methods allow as a general rule a resin weight content of less than 10% to be applied onto a thread of this type.

I claim:

1. Apparatus for continuous treatment of an elongated textile product by thorough impregnation with a viscous treating liquid and thereafter by controlled squeezing thereof, which apparatus comprises:

an impregnation chamber with at least an inlet orifice and an outlet orifice, which are open for continuous passage of textile product therethrough,

- A squeezing chamber having at least a gas actuated squeezing nozzle means forming an outlet orifice,

a tank containing the treating liquid,

means for feeding said treating liquid, under high pressure, from the tank to the impregnation chamber,

means for recycling the treating liquid from the squeezing chamber into the tank,

means for ensuring a partial vacuum in the tank and in the squeezing chamber,

- means for ensuring the axial running of the product through the impregnation chamber and the squeezing chamber.

2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the squeezing chamber is placed after the impregnation chamber in the direction of travel of the textile product.

3. Apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising at least one recovery chamber enclosing the inlet and outlet orifices of the impregnation chamber and in enclosed flow communication with said squeezing chamber, said recovery chamber being connected to the tank so as also to recycle treating liquid and to be at lower than atmospheric pressure.

4. Apparatus according to claim I, wherein the squeezing chamber encloses the inlet and outlet orifices of the impregnation chamber.

5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for feeding said treating liquid from the tank to the impregnation chamber is adjustable.

6. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for ensuring a partial vacuum in the tank and in the squeezing chamber is adjustable.

1 7. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least the outlet orifice of said squeezing chamber is formed by a nozzle of the convergent/divergent type.

8. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said means for ensuring a partial vacuum is constructed to create a partial pressure of from tens to hundreds of grams per cm 9. Apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising means for enclosing said impregnation chamber, said latter means being in at least enclosed flow communication with said squeezing chamber and having a small inlet opening in the shape of an elongated neck for inhibiting the infusion of external atmospheric gas through said neck past said textile product so as to favor gas flow in through said outlet orifice of said squeezing chamber.

vl0. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the means for feeding said treating liquid from the tank to the impregnation chamber is adjustable, and wherein the means for ensuring a partial vacuum in the tank and in the squeezing chamber is adjustable.

11. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the inlet and outlet orifices of the impregnation chamber have a convergent/divergent form.

12. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the squeezing nozzle means forming an outlet orifice, smallest dimensions of the inlet and outlet orifice of the a t k containing th t ti li id, impregnation chamber are approximately equal to that means for feeding said treating liquid, under high of said textile product" pressure, from the tank to the impregnation cham- 13. An apparatus for continuous treatment of an 5 bet, elongated textile product by thorough impregnation mean 8 for ensuringapa m a1 vacuum in the squeez with a viscous treating liquid and thereafter by controlled squeezing thereof, with apparatus comprises:

- an impregnation chamber with at least an inlet orimeans for ensunng the axlal running of the Prod" fice and an outlet orifice, which are open for con- 10 through the impregnation chamber and the tinuous passage of textile product therethrough, q zing Cham ra squeezing chamber having at least a gas actuated ing chamber, 

1. Apparatus for continuous treatment of an elongated textile product by thorough impregnation with a viscous treating liquid and thereafter by controlled squeezing thereof, which apparatus comprises: - an impregnation chamber with at least an inlet orifice and an outlet orifice, which are open for continuous passage of textile product therethrough, - A squeezing chamber having at least a gas actuated squeezing nozzle means forming an outlet orifice, - a tank containing the treating liquid, - means for feeding said treating liquid, under high pressure, from the tank to the impregnation chamber, - means for recycling the treating liquid from the squeezing chamber into the tank, - means for ensuring a partial vacuum in the tank and in the squeezing chamber, - means for ensuring the axial running of the product through the impregnation chamber and the squeezing chamber.
 2. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the squeezing chamber is placed after the impregnation chamber in the direction of travel of the textile product.
 3. Apparatus according to claim 2, further comprising at least one recovery chamber enclosing the inlet and outlet orifices of the impregnation chamber and in enclosed flow communication with said squeezing chamber, said recovery chamber being connected to the tank so as also to recycle treating liquid and to be at lower than atmospheric pressure.
 4. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the squeezing chamber encloses the inlet and outlet orifices of the impregnation chamber.
 5. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for feeding said treating liquid from the tank to the impregnation chamber is adjustable.
 6. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the means for ensuring a partial vacuum in the tank and in the squeezing chamber is adjustable.
 7. Apparatus according to claim 1, wherein at least the outlet orifice of said squeezing chamber is formed by a nozzle of the convergent/divergent type.
 8. Apparatus according to claim 7, wherein said means for ensuring a partial vacuum is constructed to create a partial pressure of from tens to hundreds of grams per cm2.
 9. Apparatus according to claim 7, further comprising means for enclosing said impregnation chamber, said latter means being in at least enclosed flow communication with said squeezing chamber and having a small inlet opening in the shape of an elongated neck for inhibiting the infusion of external atmospheric gas through said neck past said textile product so as to favor gas flow in through said outlet orifice of said squeezing chamber.
 10. Apparatus according to claim 9, wherein the means for feeding said treating liquid from the tank to the impregnation chamber is adjustable, and wherein the means for ensuring a partial vacuum in the tank and in the squeezing chamber is adjustable.
 11. Apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the inlet and outlet orifices of the impregnation chamber have a convergent/divergent form.
 12. Apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the smallest dimensions of the inlet and outlet orifice of the impregnation chamber are approximately equal to that of said textile product.
 13. An apparatus for continuous treatment of an elongated textile product by thorough impregnation with a viscous treating liquid and thereafter by controlled squeezing thereof, with apparatus comprises: - an impregnation chamber with at least an inlet orifice and an outlet orifice, which are open for continuous passage of textile product therethrough, - a squeezing chamber having at least a gas actuated squeezing nozzle means forming an outlet orifice, - a tank containing the treating liquid, - means for feeding said treating liquid, under high pressure, from the tank to the impregnation chamber, - means for ensuring a partial vacuum in the squeezing chamber, - means for ensuring the axial running of the product through the impregnation chamber and the squeezing chamber. 